Trapezia guttata Rüppell, 1830

PETER CASTRO, PETER K. L. NG & SHANE T. AHYONG, 2004, Phylogeny and systematics of the Trapeziidae Miers, 1886 (Crustacea: Brachyura), with the description of a new family, Zootaxa 643, pp. 1-70 : 51

Trapezia guttata Rüppell, 1830

Trapezia guttata Rüppell, 1830: 27 .

Trapezia ferruginea var. ceylonica Chen, 1933: 109 . Trapezia davaoensis Ward, 1941: 14 , fig. 27. Trapezia miersi Ward, 1941: 15 .

Remarks. The identity of this species was clarified by Galil (1988b: 166) and Castro (1997a: 82) but some additional notes are necessary. The questionable conspecificity of T. ferruginea var. ceylonica Chen, 1933 (type locality Sri Lanka) with T. guttata Rüppell, 1830 (type locality Red Sea) follows from Chen's brief comments and schematic figure. Since the three specimens Chen examined are now lost (see discussion for T. cymodoce ), this cannot be verified.

Miers (1886: 167) described specimens of T. guttata from Fiji as having "... carapace and chelipeds ... of a uniform reddish or yellowish brown. The ambulatory legs, but not the chelipeds, are covered with small, distinct, red or brownish spots." The species, however, has a characteristic white to orange­white carapace that is rounded anteriorly by a thin, red­brown line (see Castro 1997a: 80, pl. 2, fig. B; pl. 4) in addition to the spotted ambulatory legs. The red­brown line may fade or it can easily be overlooked in preserved specimens. A light orange carapace and ambulatory legs with orange­red spots is characteristic of T. plana Ward, 1941 (see Castro 1997a: 88, pl. 2, fig. D, as T. punctipes ). Miers' species, however, is undoubtedly T. guttata as indicated by the straight anterolateral margins of the carapace, postorbital angles that are acute and directed anteriorly, and long cheliped fingers which cross each other when closed ( Miers, 1886: pl. 12, fig. 1). Ward (1941), however, was of the opinion that Miers' material belonged to a separate species, to which he applied the name T. miersi Ward, 1941 , without any explanation or examination of Miers' specimens. The material of T. guttata from the Philippines that Ward (1941) had on hand was described as a new species, T. davaoensis Ward, 1941 . Castro (1997b: 125) examined two paratypes of T. davaoensis (MNHN­B 16783) and confirmed that it is conspecific with T. guttata . This is also evident from Ward's (1941: fig. 27) photograph of T. davaoensis . Both T. miersi Ward, 1941 , and T. davaoensis Ward, 1941 , are therefore junior subjective synonyms of T. guttata Rüppell, 1830 .